Florida taxpayers' bill for unsuccessful 'Obamacare' fight: $70,000

TALLAHASSEE — Florida's largely unsuccessful challenge of the federal health care law cost state taxpayers $70,000, the state Attorney General's Office said this week.

The total cost of the lawsuit, including appeals, cost much more: $338,827. Those costs were shared among the 25 other states that joined Florida's legal challenge.

Attorney General Pam Bondi continues to herald the legal challenge as a partial victory for Florida even if most of the provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were allowed to stand.

Florida's total bill, $69,827.21, includes travel and expenses under Attorney General Bill McCollum, who filed the lawsuit immediately after President Barack Obama signed the health care bill into law in March 2010.